Resources and Reserve Evaluation Training Course

1. Resources and Reserves Framework

1.1 Classification Systems

• Evolution of reserves definitions including (industry milestones, historical systems, and modern frameworks)

• SPE-PRMS system including (principles, categories, project maturity, and classification matrix)

• SEC regulations including (proved reserves criteria, reasonable certainty concept, and disclosure requirements)

• International variations including (COGEH, UNFC, Russian classification, and Norwegian Petroleum Directorate)

• Comparison of classification systems including (key differences, alignment issues, and reconciliation approaches)

• Implementation challenges including (application consistency, interpretation differences, and cultural factors)

1.2 Resource Classification Process

• Resource categorization workflow including (technical assessment, commercial evaluation, and project status)

• Project-based classification including (development plan linkage, resource progression, and decision gates)

• Range of uncertainty concepts including (confidence levels, probabilistic definitions, and deterministic increments)

• Commercial status evaluation including (economic viability, commitment status, and market accessibility)

• Entitlement and contractual considerations including (production sharing agreements, royalty regimes, and fiscal terms)

• Change management including (revision catalysts, documentation requirements, and materiality thresholds)

1.3 Governance and Compliance

• Reserves governance framework including (organizational structure, accountability, and controls)

• Competent person requirements including (qualifications, experience, and professional affiliations)

• Audit process including (internal reviews, external audits, and regulator examinations)

• Documentation standards including (audit trails, technical substantiation, and uncertainty justification)

• Ethics considerations including (independence, objectivity, and conflict management)

• Corporate disclosure implications including (financial reporting, investor relations, and market significance)

2. Technical Evaluation Methods

2.1 Deterministic Assessment

• Volumetric methods including (parameter selection, net pay determination, and recovery factor estimation)

• Performance-based methods including (decline curve analysis, material balance, and recovery factor analogs)

• Simulation approaches including (history matching validation, prediction cases, and model uncertainty)

• Recovery efficiency determination including (drive mechanisms, recovery processes, and analog selection)

• Integration of multiple methods including (comparison techniques, reconciliation workflows, and assurance processes)

• Best practices for deterministic estimates including (parameter selection, scenario definition, and incremental approach)

2.2 Probabilistic Assessment

• Statistical foundations including (probability concepts, distributions, and sampling methods)

• Parameter distribution development including (data analysis, analog selection, and expert judgment)

• Monte Carlo simulation including (random sampling, correlation handling, and aggregation methods)

• Outcome interpretation including (expectation curves, percentile definitions, and confidence intervals)

• Common pitfalls including (correlation mishandling, distribution truncation, and interpretation errors)

• Software tools including (commercial packages, spreadsheet solutions, and computational requirements)

2.3 Integration and Reconciliation

• Deterministic-probabilistic integration including (calibration techniques, cross-checking methods, and hybrid approaches)

• Methods comparison including (consistency checks, variance analysis, and resolution techniques)

• Resource assessment validation including (performance confirmation, analog benchmarking, and historical tracking)

• Reconciliation processes including (bottom-up vs. top-down approaches, aggregation issues, and dependency handling)

• Decision making under uncertainty including (risk assessment, scenario planning, and expected value concepts)

• Method selection guidelines including (data availability, project maturity, and purpose considerations)

3. Commercial and Economic Evaluation

3.1 Economic Limit Determination

• Economic limit concepts including (cost structures, revenue streams, and cut-off definitions)

• Operating cost analysis including (fixed costs, variable costs, and allocation methodologies)

• Production rate thresholds including (minimum economic rate, facility constraints, and abandonment criteria)

• Cash flow modeling including (discount rates, inflation handling, and time value of money)

• Sensitivity analyses including (price scenarios, cost uncertainties, and operational variables)

• Tax and fiscal considerations including (royalties, production taxes, and income tax effects)

3.2 Commercial Evaluations

• Project economics including (capital expenditures, operating costs, and revenue forecasting)

• Economic indicators including (NPV, IRR, payback period, and profitability index)

• Development scenario comparison including (ranking methodologies, risk-weighted metrics, and optimization techniques)

• Market factors including (commodity pricing, transportation costs, and quality differentials)

• Contractual considerations including (cost recovery mechanisms, profit sharing, and ownership interests)

• Investment decision support including (portfolio analysis, capital allocation, and strategic alignment)

3.3 Price and Cost Forecasting

• Price deck development including (market analysis, forward curves, and scenario planning)

• Operating cost forecasting including (inflation factors, efficiency trends, and lifecycle variations)

• Capital cost estimation including (analogous projects, engineering estimates, and contingency factors)

• Risk adjustment techniques including (expected monetary value, decision trees, and real options valuation)

• Regulatory impacts including (carbon pricing, environmental compliance, and decommissioning obligations)

• Market access considerations including (transportation constraints, processing capacities, and contract terms)

4. Resource Categories and Project Maturity

4.1 Exploration Resources

• Play analysis including (petroleum system elements, chance of success, and yet-to-find potential)

• Prospect evaluation including (trap definition, charge assessment, and volumetric uncertainty)

• Exploration risk quantification including (geological chance factors, commercial factors, and combined probability)

• Prospect portfolio management including (risk diversification, exploration strategy, and capital allocation)

• Post-drill analysis including (pre-drill vs. post-drill comparison, lessons learned, and success ratio improvement)

• Exploratory well classification including (discovery definition, appraisal requirements, and resource progression)

4.2 Contingent Resources

• Contingent resource subclasses including (development pending, development unclarified, development on hold, and development not viable)

• Contingency identification including (technical barriers, non-technical constraints, and resolution planning)

• Project maturity assessment including (development plan status, commitment level, and timeline to production)

• Economic contingencies including (marginal economics, market constraints, and fiscal uncertainties)

• Chance of development including (risk quantification, constraint resolution probability, and commerciality assessment)

• Progression to reserves including (contingency removal, commitment evidence, and reclassification documentation)

4.3 Reserves Categories

• Proved reserves criteria including (reasonable certainty standard, development commitment, and producibility evidence)

• Developed vs. undeveloped reserves including (drilling status, completion requirements, and capital commitment)

• Probable and possible reserves including (likelihood standards, technical justification, and development certainty)

• Production status classification including (producing, non-producing, behind pipe, and undeveloped locations)

• Reserves development planning including (booking sequence, capital efficiency, and reserves replacement strategy)

• Improved recovery reserves including (pilot requirements, analog evidence, and implementation probability)

5. Specialized Evaluation Techniques

5.1 Unconventional Resources Assessment

• Resource play evaluation including (sweet spot identification, type curves, and statistical analysis)

• Shale reservoir assessment including (petroleum in place, recovery factor estimation, and production performance)

• Statistical approaches including (type well generation, spatial variability, and performance prediction)

• Development optimization including (well spacing, completion design, and EUR maximization)

• Reserve booking considerations including (proved area delineation, technical certainty evidence, and performance analogs)

• Decline curve challenges including (hyperbolic vs. modified models, terminal decline, and forecast duration)

5.2 Enhanced Oil Recovery Evaluation

• EOR incremental recovery including (technical screening, recovery mechanism evaluation, and efficiency factors)

• Analog selection including (reservoir similarity criteria, performance benchmarking, and applicability assessment)

• Pilot project analysis including (scale-up factors, pattern performance, and full-field prediction)

• Risk assessment including (technical uncertainties, implementation challenges, and commercial factors)

• Reserves booking criteria including (project maturity, production response confirmation, and development commitment)

• IOR/EOR classification including (primary, secondary, tertiary recovery, and project phases)

5.3 Resource Evaluation for New Ventures

• Opportunity screening including (play evaluation, comparative assessment, and ranking methodologies)

• Risk-reward balancing including (resource potential, geological risk, and commercial terms)

• Fiscal system impact including (production sharing, tax/royalty regimes, and economic entitlement)

• Bidding strategy including (resource valuation, competitive assessment, and bid optimization)

• Portfolio considerations including (strategic fit, risk diversification, and growth potential)

• Post-acquisition integration including (resource harmonization, booking strategy, and development planning)

6. Reserves Reporting and Disclosure

6.1 Regulatory Reporting

• SEC reporting requirements including (proved reserves criteria, pricing assumptions, and disclosure formats)

• Annual reporting process including (data collection, technical review, and executive approval)

• Auditor expectations including (documentation standards, supporting evidence, and technical defensibility)

• Revision categories including (technical revisions, economic factors, extensions, and discoveries)

• Non-technical disclosures including (pricing effects, cost structures, and standardized measure)

• Regulatory trends including (evolving requirements, sustainability integration, and climate risk)

6.2 Internal Reporting

• Corporate reporting hierarchy including (technical teams, management review, and board approval)

• Performance metrics including (reserves replacement, finding costs, and development efficiency)

• Strategic planning support including (resource availability, development sequencing, and long-term forecasting)

• Business planning integration including (production forecasts, capital requirements, and economic projections)

• Reserves committee functions including (governance oversight, technical assurance, and approval authorities)

• Reporting frequency including (annual process, quarterly updates, and material change triggers)

6.3 Documentation Requirements

• Technical documentation including (evaluation methods, parameter selection, and uncertainty assessment)

• Economic documentation including (price assumptions, cost structures, and fiscal terms)

• Audit trails including (revision history, approval workflow, and change justification)

• Reserves report components including (executive summary, detailed tables, and supporting narratives)

• Electronic systems including (reserves databases, workflow management, and version control)

• Documentation best practices including (comprehensive coverage, clarity standards, and defensibility focus)

7. Digital Transformation in Reserves Management

7.1 Data Management

• Reserves database systems including (data structure, user access, and integration capabilities)

• Data quality control including (validation processes, consistency checks, and error identification)

• Workflow automation including (calculation standardization, approval routing, and status tracking)

• Audit support including (data extraction, evidence compilation, and audit response management)

• Information security including (access controls, change protection, and disaster recovery)

• System implementation including (requirements definition, vendor selection, and change management)

7.2 Advanced Analytics

• Machine learning applications including (type curve generation, analog selection, and anomaly detection)

• Production forecasting including (decline curve automation, probabilistic predictions, and ensemble modeling)

• Visualization techniques including (interactive dashboards, geospatial mapping, and timeline analysis)

• Uncertainty quantification including (automated Monte Carlo, parameter correlation, and sensitivity analysis)

• Decision support systems including (optimization algorithms, scenario comparison, and risk assessment)

• Portfolio analysis including (resource aggregation, investment ranking, and strategic alignment)

8. HSE and Sustainability in Resources Evaluation

• Environmental impact assessment including (emissions intensity, water use, and land footprint)

• Climate risk considerations including (carbon pricing, policy scenarios, and transition pathways)

• Sustainability reporting including (ESG metrics, resource intensity, and efficiency measures)

• Energy transition implications including (portfolio resilience, project screening, and stranded asset risk)

• Decommissioning provision including (abandonment obligations, cost estimation, and timing considerations)

• Regulatory compliance including (environmental standards, reporting requirements, and liability management)

9. Case Studies & Group Discussions

• Regional case studies from Middle East operations including (giant fields, carbonates, and heavy oil resources)

• Reserves booking examples including (new field discoveries, improved recovery projects, and revisions analysis)

• Challenging evaluation scenarios including (complex reservoirs, limited data environments, and contractual intricacies)

• Audit findings including (common issues, resolution approaches, and process improvements)

• The importance of proper training in effective reserves management and reporting